Thread: Homemade smokeless powder

Has anyone ever made their own smokeless powder?

And tried it in a rifle?

Yes

Answer for me at least is, No! NO!! NOOO!!!

For basic nitrocellulose (guncotton) base, you need cotton and nitric acid, the second one being hard-ish to come by, but feasible, yes, if stuck, not sure you'd save money but a crude nitrocellulose powder, yes.

If you plan to make a double base powder, you need to make/acquire some C2H5(NO3)3 and good luck with that as you likely will be breaking the law having such stuff, never mind the sheer reckless danger to your eyes, limbs, head, family, neighbours. Think Abu Hamza.



The other way to go is to make smoke-less black powder, sans sulphur. Legal (if you make it for a legal purpose!), much safer, especially if you make it with the wet mixing method. Here is the thread:

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....e-found-46915/

Ive not made it but 25 something years ago when I worked for a paint maker who produced furniture lacquer, the major ingredient of which is nitrocellulose after quite a bit of research and experimentation I did load a hell of a lot of shot shells with it.
I never tried it in rifle cartridges as its burn rate was fast due to its fibrous nature also as its only nitrated to 10-11% not 14% like guncotton it left a little residue.

We tried making black powder at boarding school, it was a failure, which was probably lucky for us as it was not a school or hostel experiment, just boys doing dumb stuff in the hostel bathroom!

Making smokeless gunpowder Think P lab

Mix em up, roll it into a sheets, dry and then pop it into your wifes blender for 30 seconds.

Add two grams of Propane-1,2,3-triyl trinitrate per 100 grams into the mix for every 1000m/s desired increase in burn speed.

For triple base, collect seagull crap off local rocks and add liberally to said mixture.

I think you will also find that you need a licence to manufacture any form of explosive and discussing such on an open forum is probably questionable.

many years back i had a recipe for "white powder", and no it wasnt a drug
it involved ascorbic acid, sulphur and powdered sugar.
it never did get used in a firearm but had similar pressures and burn rate as black powder. it produced a white vapour that was more steam than smoke and dissipated quickly. from what i hear it was popular in the Caribbean in years long ago

Originally Posted by Cordite

Answer for me at least is, No! NO!! NOOO!!!

For basic nitrocellulose (guncotton) base, you need cotton and nitric acid, the second one being hard-ish to come by, but feasible, yes, if stuck, not sure you'd save money but a crude nitrocellulose powder, yes.

If you plan to make a double base powder, you need to make/acquire some C2H5(NO3)3 and good luck with that as you likely will be breaking the law having such stuff, never mind the sheer reckless danger to your eyes, limbs, head, family, neighbours. Think Abu Hamza.

Attachment 107246

The other way to go is to make smoke-less black powder, sans sulphur. Legal (if you make it for a legal purpose!), much safer, especially if you make it with the wet mixing method. Here is the thread:

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....e-found-46915/

They sell nitric acid on TradeMe. But gun cotton can be made quite simply with concentrated sulfuric acid and potassium nitrate. This man does it on youtube. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ4G5rqKAJY

Its the nitrogylcerine that I'm more worried about making and handling.

I've read on another forum that your powder also needs to be processed into "Ball Powder", it sounds right but I dont trust advice on forums, people are keen to say any old thing. According to wikipedia smokeless powder also contains a number of other additives

Smokeless powder is chemically complex and that does not mean you can not make it. Just that if you stuff it up you may die.

You can do anything if you acquire the appropriate licenses.

Originally Posted by DaleGribble

They sell nitric acid on TradeMe. But gun cotton can be made quite simply with concentrated sulfuric acid and potassium nitrate. This man does it on youtube. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ4G5rqKAJY

Its the nitrogylcerine that I'm more worried about making and handling.

I've read on another forum that your powder also needs to be processed into "Ball Powder", it sounds right but I dont trust advice on forums, people are keen to say any old thing. According to wikipedia smokeless powder also contains a number of other additives

As I said, rather go learn from Ullrich about smokeless black powder. In NZ there's no economic, practical or safety reason to play with nitrocellulose smokeless, whether single or double based. You can even buy modern gunpowder without a license for goodness sake!

gentlemen -in view of unfolding events in CHCH Iwould repsectfully suggest any further DIY somkeless explosive discussion is halted ad infinitum

My understanding is that making your own gunpowder (explosives) is illegal without the proper permits. And that’s all I have to say about that.

No one can stop a determined Darwin Award contestant.